


Puzzle Pieces

by muscatmusic18



Series: December Prompts [30]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Clues, December Prompt Challenge, F/M, Kidnapped, angstish, belated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 05:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9165151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muscatmusic18/pseuds/muscatmusic18
Summary: The only clue from Peggy's kidnapping is a piece of hand drawn music; who can figure it out?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to movrings for this prompt idea.
> 
> And thank all of you for bearing with me, since this is coming late.

Michael Sousa parked at the SHIELD headquarters, flashing his visitor’s badge to the security guard who nodded, opening the door for him and smiling, but he could bring himself to smile back.

He tucked his badge away and climbed the stairs to his mum’s office- well, more of his dad’s office these days. Daniel worked at the CIA, but two and a half weeks ago, Peggy was captured, leaving behind only one clue: a hand draw piece of music. Since then, Daniel had taken over Peggy's office, combing through every scrap of information trying to figure out what her clue meant.

Reaching the office, Michael found his dad hunched over the file, head resting on his hand and the gray at his temples seeming to thicken before his eyes.

He softly knocked until his dad looked up. “Hey, Mike. What are you doing here?”

Michael just shrugged. “School day finished up, and I wanted to see how you were coming along with Mum’s case.”

“It's…” Daniel sighed, not knowing if he wanted to tell the truth, but he did anyways. “It's not going too well. There was no evidence at the scene to help us out, so I'm relying on your mum’s clue, and I can't figure it out.”

“Can I take a look?”

He looked up at his son, seeing the need to help, to do something scrawled in his features, so Daniel nodded, turning the scrap of paper towards him. On it was a crudely drawn music staff, with a sloppy treble clef and a melody, the notes shaky, but still readable.

“I didn’t know Mum could read music.” Mike remarked.

“Your nana tried to teach your mum when she was a kid, but other than the very basics, none of it really stuck.”

Michael smiled, but the memory of her just made him even more desperate, so he focused back on the notes instead. He whistled the melody through his teeth, faintly recognizing the tune.

“This is the lullabye Mum would sing to us when we couldn’t fall asleep.”

Daniel nodded. “Lavender’s Blue. She saved that one for when one of you needed comfort.”

“It always worked. She would curl up with me and stroke my hair while she softly sang. Her voice would put me to sleep in moments.” His eyes stung with tears at the memory, but he quickly blinked them away. She wasn’t dead, she was alive and needed their help.

Chewing on his lip, he thought for a few minutes, rearranging the letters of the notes, trying to form words when suddenly, something clicked. “There’s a restaurant just outside of Manhattan called Lavender’s.”

“As in the song title? Is there anywhere in the place that she could be held?” Daniel’s eyes became visibly brighter at the thought of a lead.

“No, but not even a block away there’s a warehouse that was started and never finished. It’s huge and it's always loud there, so no one would get suspicious if they heard anything; perfect for hiding someone in.” Michael went to the filing cabinet and pulled out the latest map of Manhattan, putting his finger on the warehouse. “There.”

Daniel slowly nodded his head, his smile growing bigger and bigger as he picked up the phone receiver and dialed a number. He glanced over at Michael, looking impressed. “I think you just found your mum, kid.”

~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t take long for Daniel to debrief everybody and give them their orders, so while the agents were preparing, Michael approached him.

“Pai?”

Daniel turned, stunned, He hadn’t called him that in years. “Yeah?”

“Do you think I could come with?”

Daniel froze. He was both expecting and not expecting that. On one hand, it was his mother they were about to go and rescue, but while the kid had a good knack for this kind of work, he was always a bit more peaceful, not wanting to be involved in frontline kind of work.

He rested his hands on his son’s shoulders, not intending to sugarcoat anything. “When we find your mum, she might be in… bad condition. I don’t know what we’re going to find, but I don’t think it’s going to be pretty. I know you’re only sixteen, and I’m still going to leave it up to you, but really think about what I have to say: are you prepared to see your mother bruised, bloodied, thin, weak, broken-boned, and very possibly worse?”

Michael took a deep breath and nodded. “I don’t expect this to go smoothly, and I don’t expect her to be just as she was, but that’s my mum out there. I want to be there, I want to help. I just want to bring her home.”

Daniel clapped his shoulder before walking over to the desk and pulling out a pistol and a holster out of the bottom drawer, handing them to him. “You remember how we taught you to use this?”

Mike nodded, checking that the safety was on before strapping the holster to himself and tucking the gun inside.

Daniel nodded. “Good. Now call your sister quickly, I want her to know what’s about to happen.”

~~~~~~~~~

The tac team entered the building before them, clearing the entrance before giving Daniel and Michael a green light.

The whole rescue team went in together, making their way down the first corridor until they hit the crossroads and two went right and two went left.

Father and son went right, Daniel in front, but both had their guns out and loaded.

They met only two people as they searched room to room, Daniel taking down the both of them much to Michael’s relief. After about ten minutes of searching, Daniel peered around the corner into a room, Michael covering him until he turned and motioned him forward. “She’s here.” 

They both ran in thanks to Stark’s new leg, but Michael faltered at the sight of his mum. Her wrists were bound and the rope used was hanging from a hook attached to a pulley above her, so no matter how she moved, the hook would always be above her head. The pulley only moved so far though, so even though she was limp, her knees didn’t quite touch the ground, leaving her hanging only by her wrists. Her head hung forward and from what he could see through her limp hair she was gagged, but the most disturbing part about it was the blood. It streaked her face and soaked her clothes from where it had dripped and from where her they were torn, showing both the scratches on her body and just how thin she’d gotten in two weeks.

His dad reached her, ducking under her arms so they were around his neck and stood, tugging the pulley down as he did so until she was free. She made a small noise and he pulled the gag from her mouth, tossing it to the side.

Seeing his mum freed shook Michael back to reality, and he quickly ran forward and untied her wrists, grimacing at how boney they felt under his fingers and gasping when he saw the sores the rope had rubbed.

Peggy and Daniel slid to the floor as he comforted her, petting the back of her head and pressing kisses to her neck while she sobbed into his shoulder. Michael quickly ran around and untied her legs.

He sat back, not knowing what to do from there but then Peggy looked up and at him, chin still resting on Daniel’s shoulder as both recognition and confusion flickering over her disfigured features.

“Michael?” She whispered, mostly to Daniel, and he nodded.

“He's the one who figured out your clue. I should've given it to him when I first got it.”

She picked her head up, one arm still wrapped around Daniel as she hesitantly opened the other one for an embrace, like she was worried Michael wouldn't want to.

Bruised, battered, and covered in blood, she was still his mum, and he fell forward into her arms, head buried in her shoulder as she tightened her arm and pulled him closer to her and Daniel.

They sat there in their pile, no one willing to let go first as the rest of the rescue team ran in, but no one disturbed them.

She was back home.


End file.
